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| Pete with two friends at Lapolosa Wilderness |
Born into an army family, both of Pete's grandfathers were army officers, and his uncle and father graduated from West Point. After years travelling from post to post as an "army brat," Pete also attended West Point, and graduated in 1969.
He saw combat duty in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and served as an 8" SP battery commander in XVIII Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, NC. At Bragg, he also spent a year with the JFK Center for Military Assistance.
He resigned his army commission in 1974 to go sailing with his wife Camilla and oldest child Kelcey. Kelcey was only 11 days old when she spent her first night onboard their boat.
For five years he worked for Ford Motor Company in a variety of positions based in Jacksonville, FL and Oakland, CA.
He purchased his first automobile dealership in 1980 in Seattle, WA. From 1980 to 2007, he operated automobile businesses, including dealerships in Washington and Oregon and a substandard credit finance company operating in five western states. He has been a CFO of a large Honda dealership and GM of a Chevrolet dealership as well. He sold his last dealership in January of 2006.
He and his wife Camilla have three children, Kelcey, Lisa and Peter of whom they are very proud. After selling their business, they split their time between sailing their boat on the east coast and in the Bahamas, Seattle, Hilton Head, SC, and helping to run their daughter Kelcey's wildlife sanctuary Lapolosa Wilderness for two years in South Africa.
They volunteer working on the The Wild Terra Foundation which seeks to protect and preserve wildlife and habitat. Contributions to the Wild Terra Foundation come primarily via EnkosiniEcoExperience, an online presence which places volunteers in 15 conservation oriented projects throughout South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Enkosini is operated Kelcey Grimm their oldest daughter.
Since 2014 Pete and Camilla have been principals in Academy Safaris, hosting safaris for West Point couples, their families and friends in South Africa and Zimbabwe
